


Because I Love Her

by StainedGlassDreams



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: AU, Beauty and the Beast, BuckyNat Week 2016, F/M, buckynat - Freeform, prompt, winterwidow - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 12:02:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6469354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StainedGlassDreams/pseuds/StainedGlassDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From Tumblr anon prompt: "What about a Buckynat Beauty and the Beast. With him as the beast and Nat as beauty/belle?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because I Love Her

He led Natalia by the hand, grace eminating from her like the starlight, spilling out onto the balcony & into the city that had both done them so much wrong.

Being framed by Lester, & forced to hide out in the abandoned ruins of this palace, he never thought this could happen.  
That someone would trust him this way again. Believe him, & not the propoganda ridden newspapers.  
Make him feel human.

He held her hand, seeing her gaze out into the city.  
Being alone for so long, you worry only for yourself. You worry for your tracks being covered. Being spotted. Being persecuted for a crime that you didn't commit.  
You aren't able to worry for someone else, besides the disappearing snow.  
& sitting here, all he could see was her. Her leg now healed from where he found her in the wolf infested woods.  
All he could see was her heart. & as she gazed into the night, he could also see her look. Knew it because it's the one he's had a thousand times on this balcony.  
And so James asks the question, the one that could unravel everything. But asks because he owes her everything. Because 5 minutes with her was heaven, & these days were more than he even deserved.

"Natalia," He began, letting the rope go. "Are you happy here?"  
She looked up, her eyes a forest he'd never tire of getting lost in. "Of course James." She smiled from her heart, grasping his hand. "I just... I wish I knew if my comrades were safe."

The batallion she had come with. The one that she was separated from, running from glowing eyes in the trees, and quiet footsteps of Lester's men beyond them.  
Between either, he'd take the wolves.

He squeezed her hand lightly as he began to stand. "Come with me."  
She followed in the tattered fragments of a dress left by the last Tsar's, but when she wore it, it was as if it had just been sewn. Royalty & kindness, magically brought back into the darkness.

He took her up to his room, letting her see it in it's full madness. Gathered evidence of Lester's whereabouts, his own name in those dark nights where he was afraid he'd forget it.  
& beside the glowing red rose Wanda left as a reminder of his torment, sat the only thing he was able to take without them knowing.  
He held it, the cold outer surface touching his hand. "This is a magic mirror. It'll show you anything you want to see."  
She looked at him, without even a hint of disbelief. A sign of how much she trusted him. And another burn inflicted on his heart.  
He held it out as she took it gently, holding the mirror as if it were an icicle, ready to melt. "...I'd like to see my comrades. ...Please."  
The mirror sparked red as it crackled, her face going from amazed to worried, trying to hide it as much as she could.  
"...What's wrong?" He asked.  
"They're.... They've been captured." She looked down, guilt and anger ringing around her irises.

& in that moment, he knew what he had to do. "....Go."  
Natalia looked up at him, strength erasing the previous state she tried to hide. "James, no. He's trying to draw me out to get to you. I wo-"  
"If it wasn't for your troops, I wouldn't have met you. I owe them my life for that."  
"They'll-"  
"They need you, 'talia." He ran his fingers through her hair, her messy bun tracking strands of her hair down her face. "I'll be fine."  
"How do you expect me to believe that?"  
"Because I need you to." He smiled. "I was able to survive before I met you, you know."

As much as he masked it in his smile, they both knew the risk this was.  
They both knew the odds of them ever seeing them each other again were as much as the first time they had met.  
But James believed them. & even if this was the last time he saw her, he was grateful for every damn moment.  
And in her eyes, he saw she felt the same.

Nat held his face gently as she kissed him with a passion all the Royal Family's jewels & empire could only dream of being close to.  
They kissed as if this were the end, 2 lifetimes passing before they both pulled away.  
Her hand remained on his cheek, warmth exuding from it. "You're a good man."  
"Not really, no. But you're the only one who understands that."

She touched her forehead to his, before Natalia whispered in his ear. "This won't be the last time I see you."  
He remembered every curl in her hair as his hand ran through it. "I promise."

& with that, she disappeared into the night she came back from.  
As she did, his mind arguing why he let her go, his heart answering. Because he loves her.

& it's why he made a promise he wasn't sure could be made.  
Lester was coming, & justice was not on his side.

Regardless of what would happen, he tasted heaven. & that was enough to prepare him for the hell that was about to come.


End file.
